As restaurant lovers debate whether Masa will survive its Michelin guide demotion from three stars to two, real estate-watchers are asking: Can the Deutsche Bank Center “Restaurant Collection” regain its past glory, which was based on its unique pair of three-star eateries?
While other dining venues came and went at the shopping and dining mall inside the former Time Warner Center — V Steakhouse, Cafe Gray, Landmarc, A Voce, Bluebird London and most recently steakhouse Porter House — the longevity of its three-star establishments on the fourth floor, Masa and Thomas Keller’s Per Se, lent the complex culinary creds even among New Yorkers who disdain malls.
Although Quality Branded’s Bad Roman and Twin Tails have juiced the still lively third floor, an eerie sense of loss pervades the fourth floor, where Porter House and its sister cafe Center Bar closed after Labor Day.
A rep for Related Companies, the tower’s developer and the mall’s operator, declined to comment. A source said sprawling Center Bar might reopen as early as next month under different management.
Meanwhile, Masa itself faces an uncertain future, industry sources said.
Chef Masayoshi Takayama’s 26-seat omakase spot risks losing at least 25% of its business once its current reservation list runs out, according to one restaurateur who knows well the damage that a lost Michelin star can cost.
“It won’t happen overnight, but Masa will be hurt,” the insider said. He said that while Michelin stars matter less to New Yorkers than do local reviewers — and even social-media influencers — they remain the last word for many European and Asian visitors who regard the “red book” as gospel and chose where to eat in New York entirely on the basis of Michelin stars.
Masa reigned atop the sushi scene since the building opened in 2009. But it was upstaged in the just-out 2026 New York City guide, which upped 18-month-old Sush Sho to three twinklers from two.
Sushi Sho’s menu starts at a “mere” $450 per person, compared with the.$750 minimum at Masa.
Masa’s perch at the top of the omakase spectrum was also damaged by competition from other expensive omakase eateries in the past ten years, all boasting of precious fish and other ingredients flown in from Japanese markets.
The omakase explosion also saw a flood of cheaper options open all over town — even including one called Sushi Akira that replaced a dry cleaner on this reporter’s East 75th Street block.
Power publicist and voracious omakase-eater Lizzie Grubman, who doesn’t represent any omakase restaurants, commented, “There are so many good places now where you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars just to sit at a counter. Many fantastic places cost under $100 whether you sit at the counter or a table.”
This story originally appeared on NYPost
